One of the ways that marketers have learned to address the problem is by sticking to display constructions that are well known in the industry. Familiarity by the end user with the display configuration goes a long way to ensure that a display is set up. One traditional floor display structure is compromised of a Product Tray that displays the product with a separate folded and/or collapsed Display Base. Once this display arrives, the retail associate lifts out the Product Tray, places it on the floor while the Display Base is folded into a structure that will hold the Product Tray, then the Product Tray is lifted and placed on the assembled base ready for customer presentation.
Marins, a French company markets a folding display, called the LAMA. It takes seconds to deploy and uses a rubber band mechanism to self construct. LAMA displays are now sold in more than 90 countries worldwide. This display does not come cheap, and is of limited use for those marketers seeking displays that hold product. It is more of a visual display than a shipper or product display. The base construction can hold a limited amount of weight without having to add a significant amount of parts which significantly increase the cost of the display and require much more time to assemble in-store. Also relying on rubber bands is an unpredictable proposition, since they may break, and/or lose their elasticity over time.
Another floor display structure includes a product tray that ships inside its base. First, the store associate pulls the product tray out of its base and places the product tray on the floor. Next, the base is turned upside down and the product tray is carefully lifted placed on top of the upside down base. Although this structure seems simple, there are some drawbacks. First, because the product tray and the base are separate pieces the base can easily be misplaced leaving their product tray without a base to sit on. Further, even if the display is set up and because the product tray simply sits on the base, and is not locked in any way, it can easily be “bumped” where the product tray and the base are left out of alignment creating an awkward look or in the case of heavy products, a dangerous situation, prone to spillage. It is also possible that the product tray will be removed from the base, as store personnel are constantly moving around displays to better serve their customers.
To minimize the problems described above there is a similar well known construction that has a base that is not turned upside down to hold the product tray, but rather includes a set of die-cut “push-in” tabs on each of the four corners of the base. When these tabs are pushed in they form a mini ledge that is designed to hold the product tray inside of its base, preventing the product tray from sliding down or sliding off the base if it is bumped. This structure still requires the product tray to be pulled out of the base and placed on the floor, while the “push-in” tabs on all four sides of the base are activated to create the mini ledge for the product tray. To complete the display the store associate lifts the product tray and carefully positions it to fit inside the base so that it can sit on top of the push-in tabs. Although this does not sound like a lot of work, many that use this structure will say that as easy as it sounds these displays are not always set up, or are improperly set up. The product tray and the shipper are still separate items so the same problems exist, that during the life of the display, the product tray may be separated from the base. Another drawback to this structure is that the full weight of the product tray is placed on the “push-in” tabs. Since the “push-in” tabs are cut from the base, they will not be able to accommodate heavy loads. Also, if the product tray is large or heavy, a single store associate may not be able to place the product tray on the base by themselves and may require additional help, tying up other store associates. Another version of this display, has a separate crisscross insert that may be placed inside the base to help hold heavier products. Although better than push tabs, it still requires significant set-up effort.
The Autoshelf is an automatic display system that slips out of its shipping carton and unfolds open ready to use. This system also uses rubber bands to deploy the display, one of their advantages over LAMA display described earlier, is that the Autoshelf is designed to hold product. Although the Autoshelf holds products, a major disadvantage is that it also ships “flat” and separate from the product it is designed to hold. The store associate has to find the “flat” Autoshelf display and deploy it. Only then can the store associate begin stocking the Autoshelf display with product. Often, from the marketer perspective, this is asking too much of the store associate and a pre-pack shipper is preferred. Further, a store associate may receive the shipment, open the product carton and not ever be aware that there is a “flat” unfolded display to set up and may simply proceed putting the product on the shelf, without ever realizing that a separate shelf display even exists for the product. Once the Autoshelf display is set up, the store associate still needs to load the display, taking valuable time away from serving customers or other necessary store activities. Another problem with Autoshelf is that it ships in a separate container than the product it is designed to hold. This creates additional shipping costs. Yet another problem, same as in Marin's LAMA displays, the Autoshelf uses rubber bands which will lose elasticity over time and can break prior to or during deployment. Finally, the Autoshelf structure requires a certain assembler skill level as the placement of rubber bands is more elaborate and more expensive than displays that do not rely on rubber bands for deployment.
Many have tried to create automatic bases that set up when a product tray is lifted out of it. One such display uses a rubber band mechanism that makes two pieces of paperboard snap to an “X” shaped support when the product tray is lifted past the height of the “X” support. The same problems exist here, rubber bands may lose their elasticity, and/or fail to deploy.